You know I find this kind of funny . My millennial son signed up for a hard working concrete pouring summer job. He wanted the out door under the Sun hard working job. He signed on with the structural concrete company, and when the boss saw his detail work from college, He pulled him from the field work-and stuck him in office, designing forms. Exactly what he did not want to do . My son quit, and moved on to a better job.
An unemployed Jester, is nobody's Fool.
the only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker, is observation. all the same data is present for both. The rest, is understanding what you're seeing.
All 3 of my boys can change oil, do their own brakes, alternators, battery swaps, one has done a timing belt, shock changes, stuff like that. They all painted their rooms if they wanted something other than basic white. I always had them with me for major projects like laying sod, planting, irrigation and they helped me put up a patio when they were 12-13. I wanted them to know whats involved so that when they were older they could make informed decisions about car/home repairs. Their first response is usually to repair something themselves. Thinking of their friends...Ryan is a landscape/irrigation supervisor, another Ryan is a machinist, Kenny is a firefighter, Mike is a GM mechanic. Derek is an x-ray tech but did all the yard maintenance before he went to school. That's a pretty good spread for their closest friends from from a big Southern California city. I think as car technology advanced it has become a little harder for kids to work on their own cars but it's not impossible.
Fight fire, save lives, laugh in the face of danger.
I was born in 1965 so I'm Gen X. My 19 yr son just changed out a head on his truck and did a brake job on my truck and last summer replaced the radiator, thermostat, and timing belt on my friend's Lexus so he knows how to turn a wrench. He also loads his own ammo for his 44 Mag Redhawk and loads for his rifles, knows how to weld and use a torch, brews his own beer, etc. I've made sure to teach him skills he will use.
My nephew bought a house last winter, and it's a block away from my father's house. He needed a lawnmower. I'm the caretaker for my father's affairs, so I told him if he wanted to, I'd give him my father's mower (a Toro, self-propelled) and weed whacker if he would spend 45 minutes per week mowing and whacking my father's lawn. He agreed. The job began around the end of April. Last week he said to my sister, "I'm beyond sick of this lawnmower. It's a piece of junk." And he proceeded to offer a new deal. He'd buy his own mower and continue the job in return for my father's washer, dryer, and queen size bed (complete with all the sets of sheets and the homemade quilt covering it, I presume).
My brother took the mower and checked it over. The air filter was soaked with gas, the mower deck was full of oil, and the mower wouldn't start. He cleaned off the deck, checked the oil, cleaned and dried the air filter, and re-gapped the spark plug. The mower started right up. Apparently my nephew didn't realize that if you tip the mower over you'll leak oil, gas, and oil will get into the cylinder and wet the spark plug.
I will admit that the mower may not be top of the line, but it's a good one. And I will add that if my nephew bought any top of the line mower and treated it the way he treated my dad's mower, it would soon be a piece of junk in his mind.
I stopped at my dad's house Friday and noticed that my nephew had whacked some 18" tall weeds and left them lay. I suppose he figured he'd grind them up with the mower at the next mowing. I raked the weeds up and also noticed that he didn't get nearly all the weeds.
This kid is a computer-savvy guy who works from home as a customer service guy for some kind of online company. He can make a computer sing, but thinks lawnmowers are indestructible no matter how much you neglect and abuse them. That's the way it is with millennials these days. Go figure.
If this comes up again, I guess I'll take the mower back, lay him off, and do the lawn job myself.
Steve.
"I was a deerhunter long before I was a man." ~Gene Wensel's Come November (2000) "A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user." ~Theodore Roosevelt
In my estimation there's a big difference between those millennials born in the eighties and those born in the nineties, with the earlier half having their heads better screwed on.
I think it depends on the millennial. In town we've got a "maker space" which is a fancy millennial name for "giant shop" you can rent access to for $30/month. They've got everything from a big TIG welder to a CNC end mill to a little drop forge. There's a guy there who fabricated his own fuel injection system. He CAD designed, 3D printed and machined the injectors. He also designed the control electronics and wrote the program that lets you set and tune the fuel-air-timing map while driving. It all worked and passed emissions and dynoed out OK.
I think the difference is that before you had to be decent at mechanics to have transportation and working appliances. Now it's a luxury skill you do for fun or to show off.
I have known others that had to ask how to change a bulb.
How many millennials does it take to change a light bulb?
The answer probably has something to do with Google searches, a hazardous waste suit, green energy, and bit coins.
Steve.
"I was a deerhunter long before I was a man." ~Gene Wensel's Come November (2000) "A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user." ~Theodore Roosevelt
My father was a urologist so he never taught me how to rebuild an engine but I worked in his office for a couple of years and can take and develop x-rays (digital imaging nowadays so that's an obsolete skill), diagnose some conditions and infections under a microscope and could do a passable urethroscopy or catheterize someone if need be. Ain't doin' no prostate exams, though, not for love nor money or both.
I think the difference is that before you had to be decent at mechanics to have transportation and working appliances. Now it's a luxury skill you do for fun or to show off.
It's tempting to assume that's what causes this, but it doesn't stand up to the evidence.
What I see is the majority of them still needing things fixed, but they either take it to a professional, find the rare friend (or a family member) who will fix it for them, or just go on using the broken item until it is entirely unusable......depending on their financial status or associations.
It isn't just about transportation either. I see this with things as simple as a doorknob or a light switch......assembling a kid's toy - even simple ones.
I don't think it's entirely parental failure either, although parents can make a difference. My own dad didn't deliberately teach me how to use tools or figure things out. I did learn by watching by my own choice - and not just watching my dad. Then there was shop class in middle school. It was an elective, as I recall, but most every boy chose to take it. Probably made the biggest impression on me.
So, it's true that they stopped offering basic shop classes in middle school? Is this a result of aversion to risk? Or is it just not popular? Do schools not even teach how to read a schematic and use a screwdriver and wrench (where's the risk in that?) ?
I have known others that had to ask how to change a bulb.
At least they asked, there are plenty that just walk away.
That's a good point. I don't generally hold ignorance or ineptitude against someone if they have the right attitude. They aren't at fault for what they weren't exposed to growing up, although the case of a light bulb is an extreme example that's hard to ignore.
I have known others that had to ask how to change a bulb.
At least they asked, there are plenty that just walk away.
That's a good point. I don't generally hold ignorance or ineptitude against someone if they have the right attitude. They aren't at fault for what they weren't exposed to growing up, although the case of a light bulb is an extreme example that's hard to ignore.
That's what's eating at me the most. It's the lack of curiosity. I can understand someone being too embarrassed to ask (although it's silly), and I know reading aptitude is an issue, but these computer savvy kids seem reluctant even to turn to impersonal and passive sources like youtube for instruction.
I think it depends on the millennial. In town we've got a "maker space" which is a fancy millennial name for "giant shop" you can rent access to for $30/month. They've got everything from a big TIG welder to a CNC end mill to a little drop forge. There's a guy there who fabricated his own fuel injection system. He CAD designed, 3D printed and machined the injectors. He also designed the control electronics and wrote the program that lets you set and tune the fuel-air-timing map while driving. It all worked and passed emissions and dynoed out OK.
I think the difference is that before you had to be decent at mechanics to have transportation and working appliances. Now it's a luxury skill you do for fun or to show off.
You should see what mine can do with a laser cutter. His attention to detail is unreal.
An unemployed Jester, is nobody's Fool.
the only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker, is observation. all the same data is present for both. The rest, is understanding what you're seeing.
Must be city stuff. I'm friends with 2 'Millennials' locally. One builds floating docks and works on most things motorized as a side kick at his place.
The other one is a pretty good smith.
Yep. I work with many of them, and a couple of them have a driveway full of old rigs they love wrenching on. A third just built a beautiful bar from a solid slab of Ponderosa. They're all avid shooters too.
I'm NOT a fan of Millennials as a group, but we've got some good rednecky ones around here that prove the exception to the rule.
On the other hand, the liberal side of my state has pathetic males of all ages............in over-abundance.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. --Winston Churchill
Just to be clear, I'm not talking about my own kids. They are exceptions to the rule as I see it. I did teach them what I could, but I think they would have done much of the learning on their own. I am surrounded by extended family members and others though who just aren't interested in learning how to do normal stuff.
I don't think it's a city/rural thing either. I grew up in a city, and that didn't hold me back. OTOH, I can think of several individuals that I know were raised rural, by rural raised parents, who can't deal with simple mechanical or electrical tasks. Heck - farmers around here are famous for parking things instead of fixing them anyway.
I don't think it's a city/rural thing either. I grew up in a city, and that didn't hold me back. OTOH, I can think of several individuals that I know were raised rural, by rural raised parents, who can't deal with simple mechanical or electrical tasks. Heck - farmers around here are famous for parking things instead of fixing them anyway.
Actually FM, it is a rare cocky that will fix anything, especially gates.
Cocky = white bird that sits in middle of paddock and squarks.
